Behind The Black Veil
by Madhubala
Summary: AU A strange voice, a strange room and all this in one dream? It is 6th year, Harry has the same worries as the next student, such as, can the new DA teacher last one year? However, he has one secret,his dreams are coming to life. Please read and review!
1. The Vision

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's characters. I own the rights to my original character Claudia Rondine (pronounced: roh-dee-nay) and any other original characters that pop up in this fic.

Authors Note: An action/adventure/Suspense/Mystery set after Ootp. Not shippy. Slightly AU, new spin on HBP. Read and enjoy!

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****Chapter 1 - The Vision**

Harry Potter normally did not fall asleep while doing his summer reading for Professor Snape's class. However, due to circumstances and due to Snape's temperamental feelings the past year, Harry and along with his entire class had to write five essays on five different potions. Each essay had to be three rolls of parchment about the pros and cons of each potion and even more about the history with a bibliography included.

Falling asleep was, however, not on the list.

He had laid his head upon his desk just so he could get five minutes rest and yet five minutes had turned into fifty minutes. His arms were propped upon the taped together desk that Uncle Vernon had taken the liberty of fixing. Of course, Uncle Vernon could have used his drills to fix it but he did not want to take much time to do something remotely thoughtful for Harry. Harry's quill fell to the side and fluttered upon the floor. Soon, he would wake up to find that he had fallen asleep upon his parchment. He would find that half of Snape's assignment had smeared across his face.

Tonight, Harry had to battle the most vulgar creature in the world, his Uncle Vernon. Not that Harry feared him any longer but he was thoroughly exhausted from arguing. And anyway, he was stuck here forever now, wasn't he?

Stuck here forever. All hopes were dashed after Sirius had fallen. He remembered a conversation that they had during his third year. Sirius had asked Harry to live with him. Of course, it could not have happened at the time considering that Sirius was a fugitive. But, Harry had clung onto that tiny hope that some day he would leave Privet Drive. Now, that day was never to come.

The weather was quite humid for a London night and he soon began to quiver as his desk was close to the window. His breath came out in short gasps and he broke out in a cold sweat. Was he in a dream?

He tried to open his eyes but could not and wandered into this dream that seemed so alive. It seemed as though every object that surrounded him had a texture. He reached out to grab an empty potion flask but his hand went right through as though he were a ghost. Suddenly, his surroundings changed and he found himself standing in the orchestral pit of an auditorium. But, this auditorium was a dome-like coliseum. He looked up at the dome. The dome was surrounded by silver serpents that seemed to be winding through the stained glass. The stained glass depicted the rise of Voldemort. Harry eyed the dome in curiosity as he wondered what he had stumbled into. As he moved up the steps to the stage, he noticed that there was a crowded mass in black huddled together. Harry's heart jumped when he took a step closer and realized what was behind the black cloaks.

All that Harry could see was a thin hand and a voice crying out in pain. Wasn't there anyone to help this man? Harry turned around and saw Umbridge in the audience, her hands glittering with her gaudy rings and a huge grin upon her frog-like features. "Are you enjoying this," Harry shouted to her beaming features. "ARE YOU ENJOYING THIS?"

Before long, Harry's dream dissolved into a dark corridor. He could feel the presence of Ron and Hermione but he knew that they were not alone. He knew that there was another person with them. "Behold, the hour of darkness falls," the voice whispered. The voice was rather ethereal yet authoritative at the same time. He knew this to be the voice of a woman.

Harry heard a distant rattling sound and as he drifted on, it grew louder and louder until his eyes opened. He sighed at Hedwig, who had been making the noise all along. "Hedwig," Harry yawned, for, he was irritated that he had been awoken from his dream. Hedwig stared at Harry and abruptly the rattling stopped. Harry placed his arms over his face to block the sunlight from the window. He was appalled at how short his dream seemed yet in reality how much time had truly passed by. "Hopefully," he whispered, "My dream can start where it left off."

The rattling started again.

Harry rolled his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, "Sssh. Hedwig, you don't want to-"

The door opened and Aunt Petunia walked into the room. Harry pretended to be asleep as Aunt Petunia checked in on the room. He opened his eyes slightly and found that she had picked up a school book of his and was flipping through it. Harry coughed and turned around to send Aunt Petunia an incredulous look. Aunt Petunia stepped back with a wide-eyed stare.

Harry looked up at her and replied, "Hello."

Aunt Petunia scoffed at the book that was in her hand, "Your book just fell down."

"Yes."

She cleared her throat," That bird is making an infernal racket and when Uncle Vernon hears-"

Aunt Petunia left the room in anger and leaving Harry rather satisfied. Last year, Harry would have written to Sirius about such a dream because he would have known what to do. But, now, there was no one to tell anything to. He doubted that he even wanted to tell Ron or Hermione anything anymore because they would just tell him to go to Dumbledore. Sirius was the only person that he felt really comfortable telling everything to.

He looked at his essay and groaned. All the words had been smeared, the writing was still readable. However, the parchment was not tidy enough for Professor Snape's class. He tossed the essay aside because he had finished the other two essays. He would rewrite the essay again today.

But, what was bothering him was the dream that he had. He had not dreamt of dementors in the longest time. Also, what was this place that he had dreamt of? He knew what Hermione would have told him to do. She would have told him to make a list of everything that he had seen in the dream.

Harry took out a clean roll of parchment and picked his quill up from the floor. He jotted down a list of everything that he had seen.

1. dome, stained glass, silver serpent statue things

2. stained glass told story of Voldemort's rise

3. auditorium

4. Umbridge

5. dementors

6. potion flask

7. ghost-like feeling

8. man in pain... couldn't see him

9. dark corridor... could be Hogwarts?

10. Ron, Hermione, and someone else ... who is the other person?

Harry heard his Uncle shout his name and with a large sigh, he heaved himself off of his chair to walk downstairs with the knowledge that he would receive yet another lecture.

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	2. The Ingenue

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's characters. I own the rights to my original character Claudia Rondine (pronounced: roh-dee-nay) and any other original characters that pop up in this fic.**

**Authors Note: A new and eerie OC makes their first appearance. It's been awhile :-/**

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**Chapter 2 - The Ingenue**

As always, Uncle Vernon took his sweet time trying to make Harry late for the train.

Uncle Vernon left off to buy a candy bar that Dudley was screaming for because, "Harry had to wake us all up so early to make him go back to his freaky school and I haven't had any breakfast." Uncle Vernon and Dudley wobbled away towards the drugstore and of course, they had to take their time to try and make Harry late for the Hogwarts Express.

Harry cleared his throat, for, he and Aunt Petunia were left alone in the car. He looked out the window and noticed a few people in cloaks walking around, "Weird." After a nervous moment, Harry turned towards Aunt Petunia and replied, "Aunt Petunia?"

Aunt Petunia turned towards him, "Yes?"

Harry looked up at Aunt Petunia, "Why were you looking at my school book?"

"Always curious, aren't you?" Aunt Petunia said, "I picked the book up because it fell."

Harry nodded quietly as a small smile appeared upon his lips. "And what might you be smiling at," a gruff voice replied only indicating that Uncle Vernon had returned.

"I was just thinking about school and all the fun that I am going to have," said Harry he glanced side-long at Dudley, who had come back with the entire drugstore in his arms. In his arms were cream-filled confections, wrapped candy, and various other types of junk food.

Uncle Vernon's face turned purple at the idea of Harry Potter having fun with friends. Uncle Vernon's eyes widened when he noticed that there were people in cloaks around his car and all seemed to be unaware of where they were going.

The vertical lines between Harry's eyes showed as he replied, "Uncle Vernon?"

"See?" Uncle Vernon's voice seemed a bit more high-pitched and nervous, "See, what freaks you mingle with?"

"I-I don't know any of them," Harry replied.

"Sure you don't," Dudley spoke up, "Freak."

Harry disregarded Dudley's comment as he looked beyond at the crowd of wizards who had apparently missed the fact that, if they can avoid it, should not be seen by muggles. However, Harry was not as frightened by this as the Dursleys were. Uncle Vernon's stubby fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles went white. Aunt Petunia bit her lip nervously and kept on fidgeting with the edge of her sleeve. However, Dudley was altogether a terrible mess.

Harry watched in curiosity as a girl began to peer into every parked car. It seemed as though she was on some sort of a mission. Finally, she reached Uncle Vernon's car and knocked on the window that was on Dudley's side.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see that there was a woman peering into Dudley's window as if trying to see if there was anyone inside of this parked car. Suddenly, she knocked again on Dudley's window. Dudley and Aunt Petunia screamed in unison as they both tried to get Uncle Vernon to drive off.

Uncle Vernon groaned, "Just ignore her."

"I can't," Dudley whined. "Why can't we just drive off?"

"Do you see the crowd of people in the streets?" Uncle Vernon asked Dudley, "I can't exactly drive over them now, can I?"

"Mummy?" Dudley whimpered when the girl knocked on the window again.

The girl was rather pretty in an understated way. She had short raven hair in the fashion of a pixie and blue eyes. She was rather young and seemed as though she were in her late twenties.

"Excuse me," her voice was muffled by the distant chattering of the crowd and the fact that Dudley kept the window rolled up all the way. "Excuse me, can you tell me where Platform Nine and Three Fourths is?"

Harry seemed confused for a second until he said, "Platform Nine and Three Quarters!"

Immediately, Harry pushed Dudley aside and reached for the switch to lower the window. Dudley pushed Harry back, "Mum, Harry pushed me."

"But, she's lost," Harry tried to reason with his Aunt and Uncle. "If only I could give her directions-"

"No." Uncle Vernon growled, "You will stay in your seat until you reach your odd train."

Uncle Vernon drove off to leave the girl alone by the empty parking space. Harry turned around to see if she was still standing there. To his astonishment, he had found that she was no longer standing by the parking lot.

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	3. Rondine Who?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's characters. I own the rights to my original character Claudia Rondine (pronounced: roh-dee-nay) and any other original characters that pop up in this fic.**

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**Chapter 3 - Rondine Who?**

Harry watched as the Dursleys' station wagon sped off at top speed. Uncle Vernon had a very nice sports car when he wanted to look sharp and neat for people like the Masons. But, he also had a boring old station wagon that he used for practical use. He kept on talking about how he would soon give the station wagon to Dudley. However, Dudley had his eye on the sports car for months.

With a loud screeching of the tires, they were off, and had left Harry alone with his belongings on Platform 1. Harry quickly grabbed a trolley and bundled all his school books and belongings onto it. He glanced quickly at the clock and realized that in five minutes the train was going to leave. In his need and desperation to leave and go to his home, he ran by each platform at top speed. Every time he ran, he could hear the conductors shouting, "All aboard."

Suddenly, he was beside Platform 9 and noticed a large line standing beside the brick wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10. What was going on? "Harry," a familiar voice sounded, "over here." He turned around only to see a mass of red hair, the Weasley family. A genuine grin spread across Harry's features as he forgot about the Dursleys.

"Hi," Harry smiled at Ron. "How was your summer?"

"More like how was your summer?" Ron asked in a serious tone.

Harry nodded and Ron understood to leave the subject well alone. After all, time would heal Harry's wound. "I spent most of my summer with Fred and George." Ron smiled, "They've really got a ton of orders in for their lot. I think by next year, they might open a joke store that will put Zonko's to shame."

Harry smiled, "Tell them that I wish them luck."

In his happiness to see the Weasley family, Harry forgot about the long line and began to walk backwards a bit until he bumped into a first year girl. Harry sheepishly smiled as he looked down at the infuriated girl, "Sorry."

Harry turned around to look at the long line, "Can you explain this?"

"This year we're overflooded with first years." Ron nodded towards the first year girl, "What are you looking at midget?"

The girl turned around as Ron said loud enough for her to hear, "They get cheekier every year."

Ginny emerged from behind a trolley that she had been crouching behind, "Mum, didn't you pack my book?"

"I packed all your school books, dear," said Mrs. Weasley.

"No, I mean that novel that I've been reading all summer."

"Oh, I knew I'd forgotten something," Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"It's okay mum. You can mail the book to me by owl post." Ginny looked over at Harry and smiled brightly, "Hello. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. And you?"

"Same as well." Ginny whispered, "I know who our new defense against the dark arts professor is."

"Already?" Ron cast his sister an incredulous look as she nodded. "Okay, then who is it?"

"Claudia Rondine."

"Rondine who?" Ron looked confused. He and Harry exchanged looks but all Harry could do was shrug.

"Where's she from?" Harry asked.

"They don't say." Ginny whispered, "But, I heard some things about her that she's-"

The line began to move faster than usual as all the first years vanished into the brick wall one by one. Harry knew why it had taken so long because he remembered how he felt when it was his first year. It was normal to think, "Are you mad? You want me to run into a brick wall?"

"That she's what?" Ron asked his sister as they walked towards the brick wall.

"I'll tell you on the train," said Ginny as she ran into the brick wall and vanished.

"Have you seen Hermione anywhere?" Harry asked Ron in a low voice.

"No. I thought that maybe she would have been with you." Ron shrugged, "I'm guessing that she got lucky and beat the first years to the train."

"I suppose so." Harry replied, for, he was used to having Hermione around when they got on the train.

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After Harry, Ron, and Ginny had settled down into a compartment, Ginny began to talk about Ms. Claudia Rondine. "Well, I've heard several things about her. I've heard that she wants to be in the Order of the Phoenix but can't."

"Why not?" Harry asked, "Doesn't she have just about as right as anyone else? I mean, Snape's in the Order, right?"

"And we thought the Order could sink no lower than that," Ron sniggered.

Harry nodded in agreement to Ron's statement. He watched as Ginny continued on, "I really don't know much. It's just that I overheard Lavender and Parvati talking about it and listened in."

"Since when do you take what Lavender says seriously," asked Ron.

"No." Ginny glared at Ron, "I was just curious is all."

Soon enough, the door opened and Hermione walked into the compartment carrying a large stack of books. "And where've you been," Ron queried, "And aren't those supposed to be packed up?"

Hermione was too giddy to notice Ron's sarcasm. "These books were given to me." Hermione set the books on the floor with a small clatter as she sat down next to Ginny, "You will not believe who I just met."

"Who," Harry, Ginny, and Ron asked in unison.

"The new dark arts professor." Hermione smiled as she continued on, "She is so nice."

"Nice is not a good sign." Ron interrupted, "Obviously, she's hiding something."

"Can I please finish?" Hermione took in a deep breath, "Well, I met her because she couldn't find a way to get to Hogwarts. It seems as though she was not given clear enough directions."

"That shows incompetence."

"Ron," Hermione scowled, "if you would have seen the directions. They didn't give her any street names or landmark names. So, she decided to come to Hogwarts by train with us. Well, actually, she didn't really decide to come by train with us. She just approached my mum and asked where Platform Nine and Three Fourths was. Honestly," Hermione shook her head, "they didn't even give her the proper name! My mum just told her to come with us because I could probably help her get on the train."

"Why didn't she just apparate to Hogwarts," asked Ron.

"In the middle of a crowded street, in broad daylight and mind you, muggles would've seen," Hermione said in a matter of fact tone.

"Well," Ron sniffed, "it seems a bit strange to me that she doesn't know the school or how to get onto the train."

"What's her name again?" Harry asked, for, this was the woman that he had seen in the parking lot. He looked over at Ginny. Ginny was staring at Hermione in anticipation.

"Claudia Rondine," said Hermione. "We had arrived on the train early because of the lack of direction that they had given her. We started to chat." Hermione looked down at the books, "I really should pack all these up."

"Tell us what you talked about with her," Ginny asked.

"We just started talking about books and how much we love reading." Hermione nodded towards the books, "that's how I received those."

"I'll be back soon. I'm just going to put these away." Hermione stood up and gathered all the books.

They watched as Hermione left the compartment. Harry remembered that he was going to tell Ron and Hermione about the dream but realized that now was not such a good time since everyone was in such a cheery mood. "Anyway," he thought, "that dream was probably just a dream. Nothing to get so worried about." He looked out the window at the passing landscape and whispered, "Nothing to get so worried about."

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